Dyson accused of 'betrayal'

JAMES Dyson was yesterday accused of 'betrayal' after announcing that he is switching production of his washing machines from Britain to Malaysia.

Earlier this year the tycoon inventor was recruited by the Government as an adviser on innovation and manufacturing.

But last year he moved production of his vacuum cleaners to the Far East, and now his latest decision means none of Dyson's products will be made in Britain.

Yet he is among a team of British entrepreneurs appointed to look at a range of issues that will culminate in a Government report later this year on how Britain can become more competitive.

Dyson said yesterday the switch to Malaysia, costing 65 jobs at the firm's Malmesbury site in Wiltshire, will make production more cost effective. Experts say wages in the Far East are less than half those in Britain.

He was fiercely criticised last year for moving vacuum production to Malaysia with the loss of 500 staff - each of whom was given a vacuum cleaner as a leaving gift.

The company claims the move secured 1,200 posts in research and development. But this has not eased union anger at the latest move.

Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Amicus, said: 'This latest export of jobs by Dyson is confirmation that his motive is making even greater profits at the expense of UK manufacturing and his loyal workforce. Dyson is no longer a UK product. This is a betrayal of British manufacturing.'

Dyson spent four years designing the Contrarotator washing machine, which combines two drums rotating in opposite directions.

He has previously complained about Britain's refusal to join the euro and the difficulty in getting planning permission to expand his operations.

Estimated to be worth £360m, he said last year the UK had become a nation 'not quite of shopkeepers, but of salesmen'. There was little point in resisting the globalisation of manufacturing, he added.

Dyson is the latest firm to have moved production to the Far East. Around 660,000 UK factory jobs have been lost since Tony Blair took power.

Tory trade spokesman Tim Yeo said: 'At a time when we are shedding over 400 manufacturing jobs a day under Labour, this is a warning of the increasing problems faced by British manufacturers.'